1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to instruments of the violin family which are played with a bow.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Many stringed instruments of the violin family have a smooth, non-fretted fingerboard. Such instruments include the violin, cello, viola, the upright or double bass, and some electric basses. These instruments are usually played with a bow although occasionally they are played by plucking.
One of the inherent difficulties in learning to play a stringed musical instrument having a smooth fretless fingerboard is that it requires great experience to be able to accurately finger the strings to precisely generate the desired notes, since there are no frets on the fingerboard against which to position the fingers.
The prior art of course also includes many fretted stringed instruments such as guitars wherein the strings are held down against the edge of a fret so that the end point of vibration of the string is precisely determined by the position of the edge of the fret across which the string is held. To use a traditional fret on a violin, however, would interfere with the normal manner of playing the violin in that it would not be possible to play vibrato (accomplished by a rapid rolling of the fingertip against the fingerboard as the bow is drawn across the string). Nor would subtle changes in pitch be possible.
The prior art has included a number of proposals for providing finger positioning aids on a violin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,460 to Kuhnke discloses an intonation aid for a violin wherein a molded plastic member fits over the fingerboard and provides conventional raised frets against which the string can be fretted. A similar structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 524,428 to Waring. Other references suggesting conventional frets include U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,115 to Schlink; U.S. Pat. No. 1,795,825 to Bonner; U.S. Pat. No. 798,869 to Brandt; U.S. Pat. No. 1,237,872 to Crow; and U.S. Pat. No. D-26,423 to Livermore.
Another group of prior references suggests the use of raised finger positioning aids which are located adjacent but not below the strings, so the strings are not actually fretted against the raised surfaces. These include U.S. Pat. No. 967,507 to Finney; U.S. Pat. No. 1,348,894 to Rahne; and U.S. Pat. No. 939,486 to Fish.
Another group of references provides a visual and/or tactile finger position indicator through the use of strips which are either flush with the top surface of the fingerboard or are recessed from the top surface of the fingerboard. These include U.S. Pat. No. 1,126,957 to Consoli; U.S. Pat. No. 973,719 to Consoli; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,095,900 to Manby.
Another proposal found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,472,943 to Shaeffer includes a plurality of transverse grooves defined in the fingerboard within which grooves the fingers are pressed so as to hold the string against the fret defined between adjacent grooves.
Thus it is seen that there is a need for a finger positioning aid for a fretless stringed musical instrument such as a violin which will allow ready visual and tactile finger positioning without interfering with the traditional playing mode of the violin. Also, there is a need for such a system which can be readily attached to either existing or newly constructed instruments in an aesthetically pleasing fashion without structurally damaging the existing fingerboard.